Eye set and rubber doll&#39;s head utilizing the same



Feb. 13, 1934. J U M N 1,947,293

EYE SET AND RUBBER DOLLS HEAD UTILIZING THE SAME Filed April 16, 1932 INVENTOR Leo J. Grubmon BY v m ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 13, 1934 iTED STATES;

EYE SET AND RUBBER. DOLLS HEAD UTILIZING THE SAME Leo J. Grubman, Belle Harbor, N. Y., assignor to Margon Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 16, 1932. Serial No. 605,671

19- Claims.

This invention relates to dolls, particularly to dolls having relatively flexible rubber heads, and more especially to such heads having movable eyes. The object of the present invention resides generally in the provision of a relatively flexible dolls head made of rubber and having movable eyes such as are now commonly used in dolls heads of the rigid or non-yieldable molded type.

In the course of considerable experimentation along this line, I have found that the problem of providing a rubber dolls head with movable eyes is far more difficult than that met with in the case of a rigid head. Some of the difficulties center about a lack of uniformity in dimension caused, for example, by non-uniformity in the product obtained from a given mold; shrinkage of the product due to drying out and other changes in the rubber; non-uniformity in the warping and shrinkage which take place after molding; and other distortions which take place in the course of manufacture of the head.

Even worse in their effect upon the desired smooth, free, frictionless operation of the eye set than the foregoing, are the extreme variations and distortions in shape and dimension which are permitted during use of the doll by reason of the flexibility of the head. As is known to those skilled in the art, the popularity of rubber limbs and bodies for dolls is due to the better simulation of human flesh resulting from the yieldable nature of therubber material as compared with hard, rigid doll parts. This desirable yieldability when applied to a dolls head, however, completely prohibits the successful operation of movable eyes.

Still another difficulty arises when attempting to mount the eye set in a rubber dolls head. The preferred practice when mounting such eye sets in a rigid head consists in initially placing the head over the eye set and using the eye members themselves as the locating means for the eye set before extending or expanding the bridge of the eye set to secure the same in place within the dolls head. The necessary looseness or clearance for the eye members is provided by a slight recession permitted after the eye set is mounted in place. This procedure, however, is not at all applicable to a flexible rubber head, because the workman can readily stretch the head down wardly excessively upon the eye members before locking the eye set in position, and this will cause the eye shells to subsequently bind against the eye sockets, thus preventing oscillation of the eye members. In other words, the provision of a slight recession after mounting the eye set in place, while sufficient in the case of a rigid nonyieldable head, is insufficient when dealing with a yield'able head.

In addition to the foregoing, it must be remem- 0 bered that'the actual physical attachment of the eye set within the dolls head raises a problem, for the use of a supporting bridge with extensible tang or prong plates is unsatisfactory, first, because the prongs may be forced entirely through 06 the head; secondly, ecause the resilience of the rubber tends to expel the prongs from the material of the head; and thirdly and most importantly, because distortion and bending of the head in use will free the bridge from its mounting and thus permit the eye set to fall completely out of place.

The primary object of the present invention is to overcome all of the foregoing difficulties, and to provide a rubber dolls head satisfactorily fit- 76 ted with movable eyes, and to further provide a new and improved eye set particularly adapted for use in flexible heads, while also useful for rigid heads.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and 6 such other objects as may hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the dolls head and eye set elements and their relation one to the other, as hereinafter are more particularly described in the specification and sought to be defined in the claims. The specification is accompanied by a drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a section taken through the eye opening in a dolls head constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevational section taken through the dolls head at the eye set; and

Fig. 3 iso. horizontal section taken in the plane of the line 3--3 in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, the invention comprises a dolls head 2 made of suitable yieldable material, preferably rubber, which is partially vulcanized to make the same relatively self-supporting, but insufficiently vulcanized to harden the material of the head to ones touch. The head is provided with eye openings 4. The eye set may take any of a number of known forms, and includes a pair of oscillatable eye shells or eye mem bers 6. These eye shells, instead of bearing directly against the eye openings 4, are surrounded by additional shell-like eye socket members 8 which are slightly larger than the eye shells 6 and thus provide clearance for free oscillation of the eye shells. The eye set is so mounted in the dolls head as to maintain the socket members 8 in tight frictional or binding engagement with the eye openings 4, and the entire scheme 01 mounting the eye set in the head may not only disregard the question of recession and clearance, but may actually be designed as aforesaid to force the socket members 8 well into the eye openings, thus providing for a secure and rugged assembly of the eye set and head.

Considering the particular construction here shown in greater detail, the eye set is of a relatively simple and inexpensive type comprising simply a cross rod 10, a depending gravity weight arm 12 secured thereto and carrying at its lower extremity an appropriate weight 14, a pair of generally hemispherical eye shells 6 loosely mounted on cross rod 10 and freely reciprocable and rotatable thereon, and a pair of key members 16 frictionally secured to the cross rod 10 at each of the eye shells, said key members being designed to engage the top and bottom of the eye shell in order to cause oscillation of the eye shell with the cross rod and with the weight. As so far described, the eye set is quite similar to that disclosed in a copending application of Samuel Marcus, Serial No. 467,529, filed July 12, 1930. As is there explained in greater detail, this construction permits of manual rotative adjustment of one eye relative to the other, because the keys 16 are only frictionally held on the cross rod, and further permits of an automatic selfadjustment of the eye members longitudinally of the cross rod.

The present eye set, however, differs substantially from that described in the copending application above referred to, by the provision of the additional or external shells 8 which are also loosely mounted on cross rod 10. These shells are in the form of a sector of a sphere, and the radius of curvature of the inside of the shells or socket members 8 is slightly greater than the radius of curvature of the outside of eye members 6', thus insuring ample clearance therebetween for free operation of the eye members. The front portions of the socket members 8 are cut away, as is indicated at 20, in order to expose the eye members 6; This cut-away portion is made coextensive with the eye openings 4 in the dolls head, and preferably is made somewhat larger than the eye openings l so that the metallic edge will be concealed by the overhanging rubber edge of the eye opening in the head. This overlapping rubber edge 22 may be made appreciable in dimension, but must not be increased to a value which will permit the rubber to bear directly against the eye member itself.

The rear edge of the socket member 8 is cut away, as is indicated at 24, in order to provide ample clearance for the desired oscillation of the eye member and particularly of the key member 16. As will be most readily evident from an inspection of Fig. 1, this cutting away of the socket member 8 along the lines 24 insures that there will be no interference whatsoever between the stationary socket member and the oscillatable eye mechanism. At the same time, the edge of the socket member may be usefully employed as a stop to limit the oscillation of the eye member in either. direction. For example, as shown in Fig. 1, the lower end of the key member 16 bears against the socket member and thus prevents further opening or upward movement of eye memher 6, even though the Weight 14 has not reached the front or. face wall of the doll. This construction, of course, makes it possible to dispense with the usual adjustable stop mechanism which is ordinarily mounted on the weight in order to similarly control the limit of movement of the eye members.

The pressure of the eye set against the eye opening in the dolls head prevents undesired oscillation of the socket member 8. However, in order to insure positively that the socket member will be held immovable in desired position, a pair of locating tabs 28 may be formed integrally with the socket member and bent outwardly, as is clearly shown in all of the figures of the drawing, so as to bear against the inner wall of the dolls head. Two such tabs are preferably provided on each socket member, one extending upwardly from the top of the socket member, and the other extending downwardly from the bottom of the socket member, and these tabs are bent forwardly enough to be brought into secure engagement with the dolls head when the eye set is mounted in place.

The eye set is preferably mounted in the dolls head by the simple expedient here shown, which consists essentially in prolonging or extending the ends of the cross rod 10 to form trunnions 30 and 32 which are deeply embedded in previously formed holes in the side walls of the dolls head. With this object in View, the side walls of the head are preferably thickened adjacent the eye openings 4, as is shown at 34, and the holes 36 are formed in the thickened portions 34; preferably directly when molding the head. The holes 36 are spaced rearwardly of the eye openings 4 by an amount slightly less than the correct theoretical location. With such a location,

the eye set when mounted in place is urged for- A wardly and the socket members 8 are pushed securely and forcibly into engagement with the eye openings. This, however, does not unduly bind the eye members because their clearance is fixed with relation to the socketmembers, while the frictional contact on the trunnions 36 is applied to so small a diameter as not to prevent proper oscillation of the eye set, and, in fact, serves a useful damping function.

It will be understood that the eye set may be applied to the dolls head manually by simply inserting one end of the cross rod in one of the openings 36 and thereafter forcing the other end of the cross rod into the other of the openings 36, while simultaneously stretching the dolls head to accomplish the desired result. More preferably, however, the eye set is mounted in the dolls head with the aid of a special mounting tool which is disclosed in a copending application of John H. Wilhelm and the present inventor, Serial No. 605,672, filed concurrently herewith.

It is believed that the mode of constructing and using the eye set of my invention and of applying the same to and combining the same with a flexible dolls head, as well as the many advantages thereof, will, for the most part, be apparent from the foregoing detailed description. The eye set is simple and economical to manufacture. It will oscillate freely and smoothly and dependably regardless of shrinkage, warping, or drying out of the rubber, and regardless of bending or distortion of the head in use. The problem of recession and clearance for the eye shells may be ignored, for the eye set carries with it extra or artificial eye socket linings which themselves deterrnine the clearance for the eye shells. The eye set may be mounted in the dolls head in a simple and inexpensive manner, and a secure hold is provided without the necessity of using a special supporting bridge.

The edges of the eye socket members may be concealed by the eye openings in the head, while the rear edges ofthe eye socket members are cut away, first, to provide clearance'for oscillation of the movable eye set parts; and secondly, to limit the permitted oscillation. The socket members may be held fixedly and immovably in place by the simple expedient of providing outwardly extending tabs which bear against the inner wall of the dolls head. Theeye set, although simple in construction, is adapted for both manual and automatic adjustment to properly fit the eye openings in the dolls head, and this feature in itself is of importance in connection with a head made of rubher, because of the manufacturing variations heretofore pointed out.

While I have shown the invention as embodied in a particular form of eye set, it will be understood that the basic idea of providing the eye set with artificial eye sockets for insuring clearance for the eye shells is usefully applicable to numerous forms of eye set which may be manually as well as gravity operated, and which may be operated about a fixed as well as about a movable cross rod, the term cross rod applying to any suitable cross member, whether solid, tubular, or both. A form of eye set using a fixed cross membar is disclosed in my copending companion application Serial No. 605,673, filed concurrently herewith.

It will further be understood that the improved eye set here shown may be usefully employed with dolls heads made of other materials than rubber, and even with rigid heads in order to provide accurately fitting eye sockets. When used with a rigid head, the eye set here shown is simply placed on a standard expansible bridge of any known type, the spring means or other recession means being omitted from the bridge, and the mounting tool used being simply an expanding plier mechanism for expanding the bridge while the operator holds the rigid head with its eye openings in direct pressure contact with the socket members of the eye set.

It will therefore be apparent that while I have shown and described my invention in preferred form, many changes and modifications may be made in the structure disclosed, without departing from the spirit of the invention, defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a dolls head having eye openings, an eye set comprising a cross rod, oscillatable eye shells mounted thereon, and additional eye socket members also mounted on said cross rod and surrounding said eye shells and providing clearance for free oscillation of the eye shells, and means for so mounting the cross rod of the eye set in the head as to maintain the eye socket members in tight frictional engagement with the eye openings in the dolls head.

2. In combination, a rubber dolls head having eye openings, an eye set comprising a cross rod, oscillatable eye shells mounted thereon, and additional eye socket members also mounted on said cross rod and surrounding said eye shells and providing clearance for free oscillation of the eye shells, and means for so mounting the cross rod of the eye set in the rubber head as to maintain the eye socket members in binding engagement with. the eye openings in the dolls head, the eye socket members, however, serving to prevent any such binding action on the eye shells.

3. In combination, a rubber dolls head having eye openings, an eye set comprising oscillatable eye shells and additional eye socket members surrounding said eye shells and providing clearance for free oscillation of the eye shells, and holes in the side walls of the head for receiving the ends of the eye set, said holes being so located as to force the eye socket members into binding engagement with the eye openings in the head, the eye socket members, however, serving to prevent any such binding action on the eye shells.

4. In combination, a rubber dolls head having eye openings, an eye set comprising oscillatable eye shells and additional metallic eye socket members surrounding said eye shells and providing clearance for free oscillation of the eye shells. and means for so mounting the eye set in the rubber head as to maintain the eye socket members in binding engagement with the eye openings in the dolls head, the rubber edges of the eye openings in the head being dimensioned to overhang the metal edges of the eye openings in the socket members sufficiently to conceal the metal edges but insuificiently to bear against the eye shells.

5. An eye set adapted to be subsequently inserted and mounted in a dolls head, said eye set comprising a cross rod, a pair of eye shells on said cross rod, a pair of thin-walled eye socket members surrounding said eye shells and also mounted on said cross rod, said socket members being larger than the eye shells to provide free clearance therebetween and serving to prevent binding of the eye shells when the eye set is mounted in a dolls head.

6. An eye set adapted to be subsequently inserted and mounted in a dolls head, said eye set comprising a cross rod, a depending gravity weight, a pair of eye shells loosely mounted on said cross rod, 2. pair of eye socket members surrounding said eye shells and also loosely mounted on said cross rod, and means for engaging and causing oscillation of said eyeshells with said weight.

'7. An eye set adapted to be subsequently inserted and mounted in a dolls head, said eye set comprising 'a cross rod, a depending gravity weight secured thereto, a pair of eye shells loosely mounted on said cross rod, a pair of eye socket members surrounding said eye shells and also loosely mounted on said cross rod, and key members frictionally secured to said cross rod for engaging and causing oscillation of said eye shells with said cross rod and weight.

8. An eye set adapted to be subsequently inserted and mounted in a dolls head, said eye set comprising a cross rod, 2. depending gravity weight, a pair of eye shells loosely mounted on said cross rod, a pair of eye socket members surrounding said eye shells and also loosely mounted on said cross rod, and means for engaging and causing oscillation of said eye shells with said weight, said cross rod being elongated and exwith said weight, and outwardly extending tabs on said eye socket members to prevent movement thereof when the eye set is mounted in a dolls head.

10. An eye set comprising a cross rod, a depending gravity weight secured thereto, a pair of eye shells loosely mounted on said cross rod, a pair of eye socket members surrounding said eye shells and also loosely mounted on said cross rod, key members frictionally secured to said cross rod-for engaging and causing oscillation of said eye shells, and outwardly extending tabs on said eye socket members to prevent movement thereof when the eye set is mounted in a dolls head, said cross rod being elongated to permit mounting the same in mating holes in the side walls of the dolls head.

11. An eye set comprising a cross rod, a depending gravity weight, a pair of eye shells loosely mounted on said cross rod, a pair of eye socket members surrounding said eye shells and also loosely mounted on said cross rod, and means for engaging and causing oscillation of said eye shells with said weight, said means having an extension projecting to act as stop means, the rear portion of the eye socket members being cut away an amount which, on the one hand, permits free oscillation of the engaging means, and, on the other hand, provides a stop surface for limiting the extent of oscillation of the stop means and consequently of the eye shells.

12. A movable eye set particularly adapted for use with a rubber dolls head, said eye set comprising a cross rod, a depending gravity weight, a pair of generally hemispherical eye shells reciprocable on said cross rod, key members frictionally secured to said cross rod for engaging the rear edges of the eye shells in order to cause the same to oscillate with the weight, and a pair of thin-walled eye socket members surrounding the eye shells and freely rotatable and reciprocable on said cross rod, said eye socket members being larger than the eye shells to provide clearance therebetween, the rear portion of said eye socket members being cut away to permit free oscillation of the key members.

13. A movable eye set particularly adapted for use with a rubber dolls head, said eye set comprising a cross rod, a depending gravity weight afiixed thereto, a pair of generally hemispherical eye shells reciprocable on said cross rod, key members frictionally secured to said cross rod for engaging the rear edges of the eye shells in order to cause the same to oscillate with the cross rod, and a pair of eye socket members surrounding the eye shells and freely rotatable and reciprocable on said cross rod, said eye socket members being larger than the eye shells to provide clearance therebetween, the front portion of said eye socket members being cut away to expose the eye members, and the rear portion of said eye socket members being cut away to permit free oscillation of the eye shells and key members, said eye socket members further including upwardly and downwardly extending tabs for engaging the inside of the dolls head in order to prevent oscillation of the eye socket members, and said cross road being relatively long to provide ends projecting beyond the eye socket members and adapted to enter mounting holes in the side walls of the head.

14. A doll comprising a relatively flexible rub- 4 ber head provided with eye openings and relatively deep mounting holes preliminarily formed directly in the rubber side walls of the head near the eye openings, said side walls being substantially thickened in the region of the mounting holes, and an eye set including a cross rod the ends of which are fitted into said mounting holes, a depending gravity weight, a pair of generally hemispherical eye shells loosely mounted on said cross rod, and means for engaging and causing oscillation of said eye shells with said weight, the

ends of said cross rod projecting a substantial distance beyond the eye shells, and the flexibility of the rubber head permitting the side walls thereof to be spread apart a substantial distance to receive the ends of the cross rod when mounting the eye set in the head.

15. A doll comprising a relatively flexible rubber head provided with eye openings and relatively deep mounting holes preliminarily formed directly in the rubber side walls of the head near the eye openings, said side walls being substantially thickened in the region of the mounting holes, and an eye set including a cross rod the ends of which are fitted into said mounting holes and are oscillatable therein, a depending gravity weight secured to said cross rod, a pair of generally hemispherical eye shells loosely mounted on said cross rod, and key members frictionally secured to said cross rod for engaging and causing rotation of said eye shells, the ends of said cross rod projecting a substantial distance beyond the eye shells, and the flexibility of the rubber head permitting the side walls thereof to be spread apart a substantial distance to receive the ends of the cross rod when mounting the eye set in the head.

16. A doll comprising a relatively flexible rubber head provided. with eye openings and mounting holes in the side walls of the head near the eye openings, and an eye set including a cross rod the ends of which are fitted into said mounting holes, a depending gravity weight secured to said cross rod, a pair of generally hemispherical eye shells loosely mounted on said cross rod, a pair of eye socket members surrounding said eye shells and loosely mounted on said cross rod, and key members frictionally secured to said cross rod for engaging and causing rotation of said eye shells.

17. A doll comprising a relatively flexible rubber head provided with eye openings and mounting holes in the side walls of the head near the eye openings, and an eye set including a cross rod the ends of which are fitted into said mounting holes, a depending gravity weight, a pair of eye shells on said cross rod, means engaging the eye shells to cause the same to oscillate with the weight, a pair of eye socket members surrounding the eye shells and loosely mounted on said cross rod, and stop means to prevent oscillation of the eye socket members.

18. A doll comprising a relatively flexible rubber head provided with eye openings and mounting holes in the side walls of the head near the ,eye openings, and an eye set including a cross rod the ends of which are fitted into said mounting holes, a depending gravity weight, a pair of eye shells on said. cross rod, means engaging the eye shells to cause the same to oscillatewith the weight, a pair of eye socket members surrounding the eye shells and loosely mounted on said cross rod, the rear portion of said eye socket members being cut away to permit free oscillation of the eye shells and engaging means, and

stop means to prevent oscillation of the eye socksecured to said cross rod for engaging the rear 3 oscillation of the eye shells and key members, said eye socket members further including upwardly and downwardly extending tabs engaging the inside of the dolls head in order to prevent movement of the eye socket members.

LEO J. GRUBMAN. 

